Foundation garment



Jan. 12, 1954 G. A. BARCLEY 2,665,424

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed June 4, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 12, 1954 G. A. BARCLEY 2,665,424

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed June 4, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 G. A. BARCLEY FOUNDATION GARMENT Jan. 12, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 kmzzigf zirwzgmf y BY I r Filed June 4, 1952 Patented Jan. 12, 1954 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,665,424 7 FOUNDATION GARMENT Gaylord A. Barcley, St. Petersburg, Fla. Application June 4, 1952, Serial No. 291,674

4 Claims. 1

My invention relates to foundation garments, for example, girdles and combinations of girdles and brassieres or all-in-one garments, adapted to mold and confine portions of the figure of the wearer.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved foundation garment having an outer front elastic panel and an outer rear elastic panel at each side thereof, a narrower diagonal inner elastic panel beneath each of the front outer elastic panels to provide firm control of the abdominal flesh, and narrow diagonal inner elastic panels beneath the rear outer panels to provide for firm control of hip and back flesh.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a foundation garment whereby firm control of flesh shall be obtained with a minimum amount of boning, and the garment shall afford the wearer freedom of movement and comfort through and above the waist and through the groin and lower part of the garment, especially through the thighs where flexibility is essential.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the course of the specification progresses.

To attain the objects and advantages of my invention I provide a foundation garment comprising a stretchable body encircling member adapted to extend from a point at or above the waistline of the wearer to a point below the buttocks, and a plurality of inner panels secured thereto and disposed to firmly control with outer panels of the body encircling member, areas of the abdomen, hips and buttocks with the top edge at or below the waistline and the bottom edge at or below the buttocks. The inner panels extend from a point at or below the waistline of the wearer to apoint at or above the groin line so as to permit the wearer freedom of movement in the lower part of the garmen v .I shall describe one form of my invention and point out the novel features thereof in' claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of the garment as it appears on the wearer;

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of the garment as it appears on the wearer;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3'3 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 1 and 6 are central transverse vertical sectional views on the planes of the lines 4-4 and 66 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows V V Figs. 5 and 7 are sectional views on the planes of the lines 55 and 1-1, respectively, of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the garment in its preferred form includes a front section having a centrally located longitudinal front panel I, a pair of other front panels 2 and 3 located on opposite sides of panel I, a back section having l3 and I4. 7 pockets to receivej'and retain the stays may be a centrally located longitudinal rear panel 4 and a pair of other rear panels 5 and 6 located on opposite sides of panel 4, and a pair of side sections comprising the respective panels 1 and 8..

below the buttocks.

contour of the figure.

its lower edge across the hips as indicated in Fig. 1.

The panels are all formed from single strips:

of material with the exception of centrally located: front panel I and centrally located rear panel Centrally located front panel I consists of an outer layer of material l9 and an inner layer 20. Outer layer l9 extends from upper edge I! of the garment to its lower edge I8 but inner layer 2i extends from upper edge I! only to edge 2| intermediate extreme edges l1 and I8. Outer and inner layers l9 and 20 are stitched into the garment together along vertically extending areas 8 and I6. Centrally located rear panel 4 comprises an upper portion 22 and a lower portion 23 which portions are stitched together along oblique eX- tending areas 24 and 25.

A slit or opening is provided in side panel 8 extending from upper edge I1 downwardly to a suitable point 26 at the hip line of the wearer. A slide fastener is preferably provided for closing the opening thus provided, interlocking and interengaging elements 21 of the fastener being carried by tapes suitably secured to the free edges of the opening. A rider 28, of well known form, is adapted toslide along the fastening elements to interengage and disengage the same.

To stiffen the upper portion of the garment and assist in maintaining it in proper position on the body, suitable boning may be provided. The front part of the garment may, for example, be provided with stays 29 and 30 along vertical extending areas Sandifi respectively. A shown, the rear portion of the garment is provided with stays SI, 32, 33 and 34 which are secured to the garment along vertically extending areas H l2,

It will be understood that suitable garment at the'desired points.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, front panels 2 and 3 are formed of elastic material formed by tapes appropriately stitched to the extends from a point at orabove the waistline of the wearer to a point. The tubular member is suitably shaped to correspond substantially with the Thus its circumferential; dimension at upper edge 17 is smallerthan at. l8 and there is a slight fullness.

, capable of stretching at least transversely of the formed of non-elastic material such as nylon.

While in the preferred embodiment of my invention the various parts of the garment are formedof elastic or non-elastic materials according to the plan just set forth, my inventionis notto' be construed as necessarily limited this fashion. The upper edge I! of the garment is reinforced by tape 39 and the lower edge I8 is reinforced by tape 4:! both preferably stitched to the garment on the inside thereof. It will' be-understood-th'at' various .stitched areasofthe garment may bereinforced by. suitable lengths of tape as desired; The: lower edge. of thezgarment is provided with suitable garter. attachments 4 I secured thereto at appropriate points.

According. tomyiinvention the garment is provided. with a plurality of reinforcing panels such aspanelsifl, 43, 44 and 45.: These panels are secured beneath the outer or main panels '2, 3; and 6 respectively, being stitched inthe-garment along. the hereinbeforementioned vertically extending a1'eas'9,.I0, H, l2, l3; l4, l5and it. As already noted,.panels.2, 3,5 and 8 are preferably of elastic material capableof stretching in a direction around the body and it may .be .notednow that-their inner counterparts, panels 42, 43, 44 and 45are'also preferably of an elastic material capable of stretchinggin' a direction aroimd the body. In this manner,:doublepanelling. all preferably elastic, is provided for the wearer'of the garment over areas of the abdomen, hips and buttock, the efiect of which is to providefirm control for flesh in these areas and to hold the flesh smooth and 'unrippled.

Panels 42, 43, 44 and 45 extend from-a point at or below the'waistline of the wearer to a point at or above the groin line so as to permit the wearer freedom of movement and comfort through and above the waist, vandthrough the groin and-lower partof the garment,especially; through the hips.

where flexibility is essential. Preferably, these panelsare wider at the hip zones than at the frontand-rearand their'edges. are diagonal; and each of these inner panels could'be formed of two diagonal overlapping lastic straps.-

Obviously my invention is not necessarily limitedtoa girdle, such as shown'in the-accompanying drawings, but is equally applicable to all in one garments which include a girdle and brassiere in combination, and bathing suits.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of theap pended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus describedmy invention, what'I' claim is:

at or below .the' buttocks and including a front section, a. backsection and two side sections each including a. paneLof non-elastic material, each of said front and-back sections having acentral longitudinal panelLofnon-elastic material and a panel of elastic materialat each side of and connected to said central longitudinal panel extending from the top edge to the bottom edge of the garment, said elastic material having a horizontal or girthwise stretch, each elastic panel including an outer piece and an inner reinforcement piece, each of said inner pieces consisting of one piece of elastic material underlying the corresponding outer piece on the inside of the girdle and being shorter from top to bottom than the outer piece of elastic material so as to extend from a point at approximately the waistline to a point at approximately the hipline of the wearer of the garment whereby said inner elastic reinforcement pieces are shaped and located to provide control of the abdomen and hips of the wearer in addition to the control afiorded by said outer pieces and said non-elastic panels of the front, back and side sections.

2. A womans girdle as defined in claim 1 wherein said inner elastic reinforcement pieces of the'front section are narrower at their front edges than at their rear edges, while said inner" reinforcement pieces of the back section'are wider at their'front edges than at their rear edges,

thereby to enhance the support and control of the abdomen.

3. A womans girdle as defined in claim 1 wherein the top and'bottom edges of said inner elastic reinforcement pieces are loose and unattached to the corresponding outer elastic pieces.

4. A womans girdle comprising a body-encircling member adapted to extend from a point atorabove the waistline of thewearer to apoint at or below the buttocks and including a front section, a back section and two side sections each including a panel of non-elastic material, one of said front and back sectionshaving a central longitudinal panel of material non-elastic girthwise and a panel of elastic'material at each side of and connected to said central longitudinal panel extending from the top edge to the bottom-edge of the garment, said elastic material having a horizontal orgirthwise stretch, each elastic panel including an outer piece and an inner reinforcement piece; each of said inner pieces consisting of one piece of elastic material underlying the corresponding outer piece on the' insideof the girdle and being shorter from top to bottom than the outer piece of elastic material so as to extend'from apoint at approximately the waistline'to a point at approximately th hipline' of the wearer of the garment whereby said inner elastic-reinforcement pieces are shaped and 10-" cated to provide control of the abdomen and hips of the wearer in addition to the "control afforded" by saidouter-pieces and said non-elastic panels of the-front, backand side sections."

GAYLORD A. BARCLEY.

References Cited. in the file of this patent UNITED STATES'PATENTS Number Name Date 1,653,636 Kops g Dec. 27, 1927 2,137,182- Robbins Nov. 15, 1938 2,464,093 Lo Cascio Mar. 8,1949 2,575,460 Niedermann Nov. 20,1951- 2,608,638 Leonard Sept. 2, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date Australia May 26, 1938 

